Woodstock Board of Education discusses goals

Communication and resources are what the Board of Education said needs improvement as it discussed the district’s long-term strategies and goals Thursday night.

The board brought five goals to the meeting — promoting academic improvement, developing well-rounded citizens, aligning curriculum through 12th grade and encouraging community ownership of schools.

DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Communication and resources are what the Board of Education said needs improvement as it discussed the district’s long-term strategies and goals Thursday night.

The board brought five goals to the meeting — promoting academic improvement, developing well-rounded citizens, aligning curriculum through 12th grade and encouraging community ownership of schools.

But board member Frank Corden pointed out that communication and resources have been the overarching struggle to accomplish those goals.

“You read through all of them, and this is what this is all about,” he said. Speaking to the goal of helping develop students’ physical, social and mental well being, Corden said, “This one is all about money.”

He suggested being more creative in improving certain areas, such as seeking volunteers to obtain grants and run programs.

“We can’t rely on the Woodstock Education Fund, the PTO, the booster club,” he said. “Our task is to find creative ways so the district has resources available to do this work that we don’t have totally.”

The board also discussed several ways to accomplish its goals.

Board member Kirsten Rigney suggested creating a health index to track students’ health.
“It would give us some sort of sense of where our school is in regards to health, both students and faculty, physically and mentally,” she said.

Keeping the district’s curriculum in line with Woodstock Academy’s expectations was a point the board felt has been lacking. Members said students have done well in tests in the elementary and middle schools, but sometimes perform poorly on academy entrance exams.

“There has got to be some integrated communications,” Corden said.

Member Steve Rosendahl said it could be as simple as having the right text book, but Chairman Lindsay Paul said the board’s biggest problem has been coordinating with the academy.

The board especially wants to track students’ overall performance and have access to that information. In addition to monitoring Connecticut Mastery Test scores, it would like to assess in-school tests.

As a parent, Bill Sowka said he also would like to see that.

“The more information we can get to the public as the kids march through school would be great,” he said.